Sienna Betts controlled the opening tip-off for her Grandview girls basketball March 15 in the Class 6A state championship game against Legend and knew that was it.
Not that results in the postseason are ever a given, but the Wolves’ senior star — recently crowned the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year for a third straight time and a McDonald’s All-American — had the pulse of her team and knew what was coming would be something to behold.
Spurred by the sting of last season’s Sweet 16 loss and the urgency of four senior starters in Betts, Deija Roberson, Maya Smith and Leaiva Holliman, top-seeded Grandview came out with determination that never wavered on its way to a 61-39 victory at the Denver Coliseum and the extension of a dynasty.
“The minute the game started, I could tell from our energy,” said Betts, who finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds in her final prep contest before she heads to powerhouse UCLA. “Everyone was so focused. We were not going to let them come back and we didn’t want them to think they had chance.
“So right from the get go, I knew it was over.”
The Wolves have won five all-time state championships and got back to the top after back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 when Betts, Roberson and Smith were on the roster.
Last season’s loss to Mullen on Grandview’s home floor — which kept the then-juniors from another trip to the Denver Coliseum — was a supreme motivator.
“It was kindof like revenge for us,” said Smith, who finished with nine points. “The seniors were saying that this year was personal because last year hurt us really bad.”
Betts, in particular, was motivated to go out on top. She had earned a ring as a freshman with a team that included mostly revolved around her older sister, Lauren (who is now starring at UCLA) and then she emerged as the main factor in Grandview’s repeat run the next season.
With one more chance to taste a title, the 6-foot-4 Betts did her part early against Legend with 13 points in the opening two quarters and her presence deterred the Titans in the paint, while the rest of the lineup took turns closing down the 3-point line, where the seventh-seeded Titans thrived all season long.
The result was only two triples made by Legend in the first two quarters and Grandview with a 16-point lead at halftime as Roberson added nine points in the first 16 minutes.
Wolves coach Josh Ulitzky — who is now 5-1 as a head coach in state championship games — is never comfortable until the final buzzer sounds, but he had a good feeling early given how well his team limited the outside looks, rebounded and played carefully and efficiently on the offensive end.
“The senior girls are like ‘we are not losing’, so it was obvious from the jump we would be in a good place if defended,” Ulitzky said. “I honestly didn’t pay much attention to the score, but I knew if we defended like we game planned and we did it consistently, we’d be in a good place. Credit to the girls, they did everything we asked.”
Legend made only one more 3-pointer in the third quarter to up its total to three — one less than the Wolves had as Smith and sophomore Ava Chang hit two apiece — as the lead remained 14 points with one quarter to go.
A Chang basket and two hoops from Roberson (who had 15 points) boosted the lead to 20, which sustained Grandview when the Titans made three 3-pointers to cut the lead to 13.
Chang was glad to finish things off for the seniors.
“It means everything for them to get three championships in four years,” Chang said. “I know I’m only a sophomore, but them being seniors means I won’t ever get to play high school basketball with them again. It was a really fun two seasons and I’m so thankful for them.”
Ulitzky will remember the team for how it came together despite adversity. Junior Lexi Yi, who would have been a starter for a third season, was lost for the majority of the season and sophomore Amya Narducci missed significant time.
“We only had six girls at one point, so they really circled the wagons,” he said. “They were like this is us and we’re going to do it. I said to them many times, ‘you guys are so impressive because you just find a way.’ Outside of one stinker in Phoenix, they found a way every game.”
For her part, Betts had a hard time picking which of the championships was her favorite given how different they were.
“Each team was so different and it was a complete new group of girls every time,” she said. “I feel like each group worked hard in different ways to build our connections and confidence as a team. Even if we don’t have big basketball names, we don’t care. We just trust each other and trust our coaches and we showed that today.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
